DAVID ROBERTS (1796-1864). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia ... with historical descriptions by the revd. George Croly, with Egypt and Nubia from drawings made on the spot ... with historical descriptions by William Brockedon . London: F.G. Moon, 1842-49. 6 volumes, broadsheet 2° (596 x 440mm). 6 lithographic vignette titles, portrait of Roberts after C. Baugniet, 240 tinted lithographic plates (120 printed on text leaves) and 2 maps, all on guards. (Spotting on 7 plates in Egypt vol. I and on 1 in Egypt vol. II, lacking Bethlehem text leaf from Holy Land vol.II, small dampstain in some extreme corners of Egypt vol.II.) 19th-century dark blue morocco gilt, wide dentelle border, gilt spines, marbled endpapers, gilt edges, by M.M. Holloway, Covent Garden (spines worn, one front cover detached). FIRST EDITION, ordinary format, of Roberts's monumental work on Egypt and Palestine. With his reputation as a pre-eminent artist well established, whose work was not infrequently compared with his friend Turner's, Roberts embarked on his travels to the Middle East in September 1848. Arriving in Alexandria, he proceeded to Cairo, and then down the Nile to Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel, and into Nubia, recording his travels in sketches, watercolours and paintings. He sketched two Cleopatra's Needles in situ , one still standing and one lying on its side, which are now in New York and London, and his drawings of the temples around Abu Simbel have gained particular importance in light of the modern dam and creation of Lake Nasser. While he was not the first to travel this route, Roberts was the first professional British artist to undertake this journey and to leave such a full visual record. Returning to Cairo, Roberts then set out in February 1839 with a 22-camel caravan across the desert to Mount Sinai, visiting St. Catherine's Monastery, and on to Petra, Hebron, Jerusalem and Ba'albek. Since Burckhardt's rediscovery of Petra in 1812, the "rose-red city" elicited curiosity and amazement, and Roberts recorded his frustration in trying to capture it on paper: "I often threw away my pencil in despair of ever being able to convey any idea of it" (K. Sim, David Roberts R.A. 1796-1864 , London: 1984, p.178). Roberts's lithographs of Petra are today among his most sought-after. On his return to England Roberts submitted his drawings to F.G. Moon for publication, and the result in The Holy Land and Egypt is "one of the most important and elaborate ventures of nineteenth-century publishing, and ... the apotheosis of the tinted lithograph" (Abbey). Abbey Travel 272, 385; Tooley 401-2; Blackmer 1432. (6)
DAVID ROBERTS (1796-1864). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia ... with historical descriptions by the revd. George Croly, with Egypt and Nubia from drawings made on the spot ... with historical descriptions by William Brockedon . London: F.G. Moon, 1842-49. 6 volumes, broadsheet 2° (596 x 440mm). 6 lithographic vignette titles, portrait of Roberts after C. Baugniet, 240 tinted lithographic plates (120 printed on text leaves) and 2 maps, all on guards. (Spotting on 7 plates in Egypt vol. I and on 1 in Egypt vol. II, lacking Bethlehem text leaf from Holy Land vol.II, small dampstain in some extreme corners of Egypt vol.II.) 19th-century dark blue morocco gilt, wide dentelle border, gilt spines, marbled endpapers, gilt edges, by M.M. Holloway, Covent Garden (spines worn, one front cover detached). FIRST EDITION, ordinary format, of Roberts's monumental work on Egypt and Palestine. With his reputation as a pre-eminent artist well established, whose work was not infrequently compared with his friend Turner's, Roberts embarked on his travels to the Middle East in September 1848. Arriving in Alexandria, he proceeded to Cairo, and then down the Nile to Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel, and into Nubia, recording his travels in sketches, watercolours and paintings. He sketched two Cleopatra's Needles in situ , one still standing and one lying on its side, which are now in New York and London, and his drawings of the temples around Abu Simbel have gained particular importance in light of the modern dam and creation of Lake Nasser. While he was not the first to travel this route, Roberts was the first professional British artist to undertake this journey and to leave such a full visual record. Returning to Cairo, Roberts then set out in February 1839 with a 22-camel caravan across the desert to Mount Sinai, visiting St. Catherine's Monastery, and on to Petra, Hebron, Jerusalem and Ba'albek. Since Burckhardt's rediscovery of Petra in 1812, the "rose-red city" elicited curiosity and amazement, and Roberts recorded his frustration in trying to capture it on paper: "I often threw away my pencil in despair of ever being able to convey any idea of it" (K. Sim, David Roberts R.A. 1796-1864 , London: 1984, p.178). Roberts's lithographs of Petra are today among his most sought-after. On his return to England Roberts submitted his drawings to F.G. Moon for publication, and the result in The Holy Land and Egypt is "one of the most important and elaborate ventures of nineteenth-century publishing, and ... the apotheosis of the tinted lithograph" (Abbey). Abbey Travel 272, 385; Tooley 401-2; Blackmer 1432. (6)
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
